Making 58's posted by Villarreal

[CSJournals-migration]

Do it yourself 58's

 

As I previously wrote, I have enjoyed working on the everyman sets. Modern AU58's are tough, exception being higher price mint errors in circulated.

 

I needed around 17 newer coins, and I had lots of mint packaged singles from mint sets. I figured, heck, I'll just make some 58's. I carried them around in my pockets when I could, big and small, business and proof (for silver issues), mixed together.

 

After a couple weeks total time in my pockets, I packaged them up, with a note explaining what I had done. I sent them off to NGC and my results are such:

 

1-PF61

2-PF/MS62

2-MS63

5-MS/PF64

4-MS65

2-MS66

1-MS67

 

Not a 58 among them...!!!

 

See more journals by Villarreal

[World Colonial]

Interesting but I would rather spend my coin budget on coins than grading fees.

 

At (I believe) $11 each plus postage and insurance, it adds up real quick.

[coinman1794]

Carrying the coins in your pocket is not how they become worn. When a coin is handled with human hands, slid across counters, handled again, jingled around, and handled again, it dulls and looses luster, and it shows wear. If you carried them in your pocket, and constantly rubbed them, they might have graded AU. Instead, you created bag marks and coin on coin contact--and not much at that, as you actually got three gems out of the bunch!

[Nutmeg Coin]

If you could only figure out how to get poor 1 results, that would be a feat.

[JTO]

In my opinion, Coinman1794 has it right. In theory a 58 should be a beautiful coin with slight breaking of the mint luster (wear). A MS-60 is an ugly (usually) coin with a lot of bag marks, lots of small contact marks but, in theory or principle, no discernible wear. This is frequently defined as no breaks in the mint luster even on the high points. So, if you put the coins in the washer and then dryer you should go from MS-69 to MS-61 or 62.

 

To get 58's would be a lot of work but could be done. Using the coins as pocket pieces would work but slowly. Men used to carry a silver dollar or similar coin in their pocket as a pocket piece. Then when an urge to fidget came at the wrong time they would put their hands in their pockets and flip, fondle, rub, rotate etc. the coin until the urge to fidget passed. Or more likely for some people simply the feeling of holding hard currency in their pocket (when it was made of silver and gold, that is, it had intrinsic worth) was reassuring. In many state vagrancy laws state that if you are found wandering about with less than $1 then you are a vagrant. When the coinage was debased I think that the habit holding a pocket piece lost its...Luster. (Sorry)

 

John